It is one thing that virtual phone systems exist in the cloud, meaning that all your calls go through the internet. However, owning a VoIP service also means streamlined internal communication via group calls, chat applications or third-party software. Let’s take a deeper look at the options you have when you want to communicate with your co-workers in a fast and efficient way.
Group Calls
You can choose the more traditional approach where you and your colleagues initiate a call within the system and continue your discussion like you would do with outbound conference callings. The only difference is that since you are not placing outbound calls, or in other words your call does not leave the system, you can talk to your employees without paying a single dime. Furthermore, if your phone system comes with a built-in softphone feature that you can download to your computers/smartphones/tablets, you can do video calls as well. Or even chat for that matter.
Group Chatting
If your virtual phone system does have a built-in instant messaging service, consider yourself very lucky. Through this feature you can communicate with your team members, completely substituting face-to-face meetings (thus saving you time), or you can convey messages regarding what to tell your callers when your co-workers pick up the phone. Certain chat clients are capable of sharing files and they can show you when an employee who’s using the same system is currently unavailable due to being on a call.
Moreover, some virtual phone system providers took the next step and developed a full-fledged chat application resembling that of market leaders like Facebook Messenger. Such an app is RingCentral’s Glip, which has already been part of RingCentral accounts, but as of 2016, it is also available as a separate mobile app with everything you need for group messaging: texting and voice or video calls. eVoice.com’s app, on the other hand, allows chatting with group members via SMS messages – although without paying a dime.
Third-Party Solutions
If none of the above is present in your virtual phone system, but integrating third party apps and services is supported, you should go with this “detour”. If your VoIP provider supports it, you can integrate the market leading instant messaging and calling solution, Skype, into your system. The best thing about this software is that it can perfectly serve either as an internal service (using it for group calling and messaging) or as a softphone that completely substitutes your desk phones. The same is true for Bria, a product by CounterPath that often popped up during our thorough research.
Other Methods
Quite interestingly there are some VoIP providers with which you can send signals to pagers, alerting your employees to be ready for a group call on a certain phone extension. Nowadays it is more common that desk phones are capable of handling intercom messages: this is an optimal choice for announcing visitors whom you can direct to another receiver, but you can also initiate a call with a colleague at the end of an extension.
Best VoIP Systems of 2024
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